How can I train a neural network to detect subliminal messages?
Setting aside the dubious nature of subliminal messages. You have to clearly define what subliminal is. In all your cases presented, a manual algorithmic approach would be better. An ANN would tend to average out the subliminal messages as noise, just as your brain would. In the case of #2, #3, it's a matter of contrast, in which case computer vision methods of bringing out low contrast details to the forefront combined with a manual algorithm (perhaps an OCR pass for content not expected to have text) would be the way to go. ANN are not magic bullets, and still need to be used appropriately.